South Shore Chamber lobbies on behalf of Plymouth studio project

The South Shore Chamber of Commerce’s board voted to recommend to Plymouth town meeting voters that they support a zoning change and land transfer necessary for the Plymouth Rock studio project.

Jon Chesto

The South Shore Chamber of Commerce is joining efforts to support a proposed movie studio project off Route 25 in southern Plymouth.

The chamber’s board voted during a meeting in Quincy on Wednesday to endorse the project and send a recommendation to Plymouth Town Meeting voters that they support a zoning change and transfer of town-owned land for the Plymouth Rock Studios project.

Peter Forman, South Shore Chamber CEO, said he will give the chamber’s letter to the Plymouth Area Chamber of Commerce so it can be distributed to town meeting members there.

“A lot of other states are competing for this type of business,” Forman said. “You can’t simply sit back and assume that because people are looking, we’re the only place that they are looking. If we drag our feet endlessly or put up (significant) permitting roadblocks, you’re not going to see any sound stage in the area.”

Forman said if Plymouth residents have concerns about the project, they should be addressed. But he said those issues can still be resolved after a town meeting vote that would authorize the transfer of land from the town to the Plymouth Regional Economic Development Foundation.

Forman said the chamber has not taken a position on which South Shore studio project it prefers – the Plymouth Rock proposal or one that has been proposed for the former South Weymouth Naval Air Station.

“We’re not sure you can’t have both,” Forman said. “But what we don’t want to do is suggest that one is preferable over another.”

The Plymouth studio project would include as many as 14 sound stages in a complex that could be as large as 1.3 million square feet. The studio project is planned for a piece of a 1,000-acre stretch of land that’s largely owned by the town.

Joe DiLorenzo, a managing officer with Plymouth Rock Studios, says the fate of the studio project will be decided by two votes at a June 9 town meeting. He said he was glad to get the chamber’s endorsement.

“They can see that it’s something that’s going to impact generations of South Shore residents,” DiLorenzo said.